1997 RM 250 firing 180 deg out of phase?

[frap]

I'm trying to get this bike to run that a friend could not. I have spark and cleaned the carb. I also changed the head gaskets and seem to have good compression. When I kick the motor, I occasionally get a backfire out the muffler. I briefly towed the bike in gear to try to start it. A lot of smoke came out of the muffler (seems like the mixture is burning), with an occasional backfire, but nowhere near starting. It just seems like the spark is firing near the bottom of the stroke to me.

The person who had the bike before me said there were "electrical problems" and could not figure it out. The pickup coil looks like it may be new - it is very clean - the rest of the bike is beat. Is it possible that the stator cover?(the part with the magnet that spins past the pickup coil) is installed 180 degrees out of phase? Or could the stator be installed incorrectly to cause this problem?

I have never really worked much on a dirt bike before and don't have a manual yet (it's on the way)

Thanks for any help